


Working Together

by Leni



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, Post Series, no comics, past Buffy/Spike
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-02 23:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13329018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: "Ready to fight off another end of the world, Slayer?"





	Working Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angelus2hot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelus2hot/gifts).



True to form, Spike didn't knock before letting himself into Buffy's apartment. He'd stayed here often enough, he figured, not to need to bow to convention. "Ready to fight off another end of the world, Slayer?" Perhaps he should have called ahead, he decided, when the answer didn't come from Buffy, but the dark-haired vampire sprawled over her couch. "Huh. Didn't expect to see you, mate."

Brown eyes fixed on him, and the corner of Angel's mouth curled into a shape that sent a shiver down Spike's spine.

"Wasn't expecting to see _you_ at all," he muttered, tensing at once as he strained his hearing without letting his eyes off Angelus. He relaxed minutely when he caught the familiar rhythm of Buffy's heartbeat, then scowled as a sense of betrayal swept over him. "Hey, Blondie," he yelled, aware that he was providing entertainment to his grand-sire but unable to stop himself, "if you had to give the bloke his happy fix, how come he's not chained to the bathtub already?"

The latter stung the most, truly.

Angelus cocked an eyebrow, leaning back and crossing a leg over his knee. "The bathtub?" he purred. "Kinky."

"It wasn't like-" Spike cut himself off. "Not the first time anyway."

A swat at the back of his head announced Buffy's entrance. "One, it was handcuffs and they broke after, like, two minutes so they don't really count; and two, share too much again and you'll be facing this apocalypse from inside a vacuum. Understood?"

Spike narrowed his eyes. "He started it."

Buffy just sighed in exasperation. "I was in the next room, Spike. If we're going to work together, lying isn't the way to start."

"He always was a childish one," Angelus snickers.

"Wait, what?" Spike stared from her to the other vampire, who smirked back, and then back to Buffy. "I know you have a soft spot for your exes, and usually I appreciate the fact. But didn't you notice something different about Angel, hm? That homicidal glare, the obvious blood thirst, or that he's not even trying to pretend there's still a soul in residence?"

Buffy patted his arm as she would a rescued victim in need of reassurance. "You worry too much," she told Spike, and then walked over to sit on Angelus's lap. "We need an edge in the fight tonight, you know that. I think the three of us will do."

Spike blinked a few times, then glanced up to stare at the ceiling, certain it had to turn into a grinning monster. It felt like that kind of nightmare. "I think," he said slowly, as reality didn't break around him, "that you should call Giles."

"We won't need him," Buffy stated. "An interview with the Master of the Damned is not the right place for Watchers. They're fragile; we are not." She gave Spike a worried look. "You don't believe we need the reinforcements, do you? Not with the three of us going in."

Spike gaped. "This is the worst plan ever," he grumbled, "and I'm counting the one where my weapon was the tackiest fashion accessory in the world _and_ it turned me into a pile of ashes."

"You got better," Angelus pointed out.

"Not because it was part of the plan!"

"You used to have more self-confidence, boy," the older vampire tutted.

"I have plenty self-confidence!" Spike protested, striding over to loom over the sitting couple. "I just don't believe he-" he pointed at Angelus, who responded by lifting an eyebrow and passing an arm around Buffy's waist- "will be of any help. In fact, he'll offer us on a silver plate and laugh while he does it!"

Buffy actually snuggled into the offered embrace. "But, Spike..."

Spike threw his head back, shaking it as if the motion would dispel the scene before him, and snarled in frustration.

"...I'm counting on that."

Spike froze.

Buffy's giggle was the last straw.

" _What is wrong with you_?"

In the next second, there came a change in the room. Spike noticed that the set of Angelus's shoulder loosened into a less challenging angle, and his hand rested quietly at Buffy's side instead of the domineering grasp he'd started with. His expression softened, too, though the look he gave Spike still made fun of him. "Sorry, Spike," he said, and both vampires were aware that he wasn't sorry at all, "we just needed to make sure the ruse would work."

Spike set his jaw. "You played me?"

"Better to do it here, than at the Master's court," Buffy said, and though she did sound honestly apologetic, she didn't leave Angel's lap. The part about them being a couple hadn't been feigned. "You understand, right?"

"Sure. Whatever."

Buffy gave him a look of understanding, but she didn't press. "I got some marshmallows earlier. Your favorite brand," she said conciliatorily. It went without saying that the second fridge would be stocked with bags of blood. "Why don't you get yourself a snack before we leave?"

Spike nodded stiffly.

At the doorstep between living room and kitchen, he turned around and glared at Angel. "If you ever do turn, I'm staking you. I don't care what she says."

Buffy opened her mouth to protest, but let Angel's quick kiss at her temple distract her.

Angel nodded in response, a thread of respect in his gaze. "I expect nothing less." 

 

 

 

The End  
08/01/18

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is love!


End file.
